Declan Kelly joins the CBAA

Declan Kelly joins the CBAA in the Partnerships & Engagement team.

Many of you will know Declan from his time in the sector through his work with Joy 94.9, 2XX FM, 3MBS and SYN Media in a variety of Management, Sponsorship, Fundraising, Account Management and Digital Content roles. 

Joining the CBAA at the tail end of 2020 as the Industry Partnerships Officer, he has recently been appointed as the CBAA's Acting Head of Partnerships and Member Engagement.

How did you first get involved in community radio?

It's a funny story - I was an obsessive listener of John Safran's work, particularly his work regarding conspiracy theories, but I always found that he was not as supportive of conspiracies as I would've liked (it was a different time). I happened to be randomly walking past SYN Media at RMIT University one day, and I just walked in and asked 'how do I do a radio show?' The kind folks at SYN were able to help me with putting together a little show called 'The Conspiracy Campfire' in which we tried to prove that all conspiracies were true (again, it was a different time) and as a result of this experience, I gradually fell in love with radio and my role expanded to include producing music and talks content as well as training in regional training areas.

What are some of the goals that you hope to achieve in the new role?

Overall, I am hoping to find external partners who can help reduce the running costs we incur as community broadcasters - hopefully this will lessen some of the financial stress experienced by stations who can then focus on serving their community. I am also very keen on equipping stations with the National Listener Survey - you'd be surprised as to how affordable the data is and what you can do with it, from clarifying the aims and objectives of your station to your community through the development of organisational profiles as well as making sponsorship a more attractive proposition to your audience. Beyond that, I hope to help find projects that will put community radio in the public sphere.

You've been involved in so many different stations that serve so many varying communities of interest - from this experience, what is it in your opinion that makes community radio so valuable?

That it's the last truly independent, democratic voice in Australia - individuals from all walks of life can access the airwaves.

You are offered a radio show - you can have any timeslot, play whatever music you like, discuss whatever you feel is of interest - what's happening today on the Declan Kelly Show?

I've moved on from my conspiracy theory days and if I could do any show that I wanted, I'd love to do a show that focused on indie/underground music from places where you don't usually see it. Often when we think of indie music, we think of distorted guitar rock from the UK or US, but it is a scene that is thriving worldwide. I'd love to do a show that focuses on indie music from Japan, the Philippines, South Africa - did you know that one of the most vibrant, thriving indie rock scenes for the past few years in in the China's Sichuan province? So, once I get through what I hope to achieve on behalf of the sector, I'll get to work on this show.